When land vehicles drive along a rough geomorphology ground they are likely to face two types of problems; One is related to the purpose of the displacement, which is hampered by sticking and/or slippage of the wheels in the ground. Another problem, refers to the deterioration of the vehicle itself which suffers aggression specially in its wheels, due to rock outcrops or other cutting and piercing elements in the ground. These problems are partially solved through the use of metal chains that are installed on the perimeter of the wheel or tire, when the vehicle encounters ground with snow and/or mud. These chains are sized to fit the rim size of the wheels, and adjusted by elastic clamping or hooks devices. The metal chains have the disadvantage that they are heavy, difficult to transport, and have fitting and adjustment means which are complicated, plus they must be acquired specifically for a determined rim size of the wheel of the vehicle in which they will be used. Another disadvantage of the metal chains is that they do not protect the tire or wheel against the microtopography of the ground, on which it is sometimes exposed to damage due to the sharpness of the clasts or rocks. A third disadvantage of metal chains is that they do not contribute as shock absorbers for the vehicle on which they are installed.
There have been several attempts to improve vehicle tire chains. For example, document CL 0355-1978 (Chile) (Hanff) published on Sep. 26, 1978, discloses a chain for vehicles driving on snow (commonly called snow chains), characterized in that they have a single clamping and fixing device, which replaces the independent locks of each tie. The system consists of two parts: two sliding crosspieces, each of which, on one hand, is attached to rings that are located at the end of outer crosspieces and on the other hand, after passing through the ring fixed in the same inner tie end, will be attached to the ring that is incorporated into the opposite tie end. A tensor is a piece of a chain which on one end is attached to one of the rings located on the outer tie end and the other side has a clip or hook, which, when it passes through the ring at the opposite end and pulled taunt, tightens the whole structure.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,430 (Leski) published on Jul. 18, 1989, discloses a snow belt or tread to be installed on a tire consisting of a rubber band mounted on the circumferential surface (tread) of the tire, that has a quantity of protrusions or lugs located on the outer surface of the tread of the tire, which are a convenient way to provide better grip or traction on the snow and having means for interconnection with linking devices to allow tying its ends together by means of a rope, to fasten a safety strap on both sides of the tire, and it accepts an insertion which is connected between the ends of the belt installed on the tire, which allows to lengthen the belt or rubber band, thus allowing its use on tires of larger sizes or diameters.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,720 (Crochett et al.) published on Mar. 18, 1975, discloses a traction tread, which is removable to be mounted on the tire tread portion. The tire tread comprises an inextensible rubber band or ring, which fits firmly around the perimeter of the tire and which is pressed against the tread of the tire inflated portion and a circumferential arrangement of alternating rigid plies and sheet rubber portions, which are placed on the outside of the tread band in order to improve the traction of the tire on soft and hard roads, respectively. The rubber portions have a slightly greater radial extension that make the plies to act radially spaced and absorb the impact on a hard road.
Application EP 1614555 (Rieger) published on Jan. 11, 2006, discloses a locking device for an anti-slipping chain with an elastic fastener for fixing it longitudinally and an automatic rear fixing of the network tread of the chain by applying a clamping force on the external holding device for the tread net section of the chain, characterized in that it comprises a fixing arch which is joined with the external fixing device of said chain, which has guiding eyelets to guide a fastener element, which comprises on both ends joining elements for two sections of the fixing length of the external fixation device.
Application WO 03/074301 (Aegyd) published on Sep. 12, 2003, discloses a anti-slip chain which comprises a continuous mesh chain and a clamping device attached to it, which is closed when mounted on the inner side wall of a tire, a locking device being arranged on both ends of the fixing device, respectively, which allows that both locking devices to be joined together applying tension to the mesh chain on the outside of the tire tread by at least one tensioning/clamping device, the two end pieces respectively, present a base in a plate form and can be essentially moved along a parallel plane to both base plates to a locked position in which both intermesh in a removable way, presenting the base of the first of the two end pieces a fixing projection, characterized in that a provision has been made of ridges opposed to each other and distant from the base of the second locking piece to take the base of the first locking piece to the closed position in which in said closed position, one of the ridges is made at least of segments of said fixing projection, as it supports itself on a back-side of the of the first locking device which is opposed to the fixing projection on the other ridge, while it holds the locking pieces mounted on the locked position by means of the traction forces introduced through the continuous chain mesh, which is held in position by both locking pieces.
None of the documents described above, which represent various inventive concepts, mentions a chain to be used on wheels of land vehicles, made of modular links made of rubber with a matching assembly, which is lightweight, portable, with adjustment means and of easy installation, which can also be used on different sizes of wheel rims of vehicles, both motorized, of human or animal traction.